MEANING:noun: 1. A source of corruption or decay. 2. Ulcerous sores in the mouth; also any of various diseases affecting animals and plants.verb tr., intr.: 1. To corrupt or to become corrupted. 2. To infect with or be infected with canker.

ETYMOLOGY:From Old English cancer (crab, tumor). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kar-/ker- (hard), which also gave us standard, cancer, and hard. Earliest documented use: 1384.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in his science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Earliest documented use: 1961.

NOTES: In Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein describes grok as a Martian word meaning "to drink". That's the literal meaning, however, figuratively it means to understand something in a profound way. To grok something is to be one with it in a way that the observer and the observed become merged. ___________________________________

GWOK - to dwink in, to understand deeply and intuitively, provided you are Martian with a lisp

WALDOC - a non-intrusive examination robot to be set up in all Walmart stores designed to compete with the Doc-in-a-Box market with the base rate set at $9.98 per visit. Organ transplants are slightly higher.

tardisPRONUNCIATION: (TAR-dis) MEANING:1. A time machine.2. Something that is much bigger than it appears from the outside. ETYMOLOGY:From TARDIS, a time machine in the British science-fiction TV series, Doctor Who. Earliest documented use: 1969.-----------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.